Composition

Souvenir of Velázquez, Private Collection

This is a rough sketch of the equestrian portrait of Count Duke of Olivares (Metropolitan Museum, New York), which was owned in Whistler's time by the Duke of Elgin. Then attributed to Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660), it is now attributed to Juan-Battista Martinez del Mazo (1612-1667). Whistler could have drawn it from the original or a reproduction. He could have seen it in the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857 (cat. no. 789), the Winter Exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1876 (cat. no. 116), and 1891 (cat. no. 113).